Interpol Questions Identity of Suspect in DEA Agent's Killing

WASHINGTON — Interpol is waiting for fingerprint records to arrive by mail to determine whether a man in custody in Italy is a former Mexican police commander wanted in the United States in connection with the killing of a U.S. drug agent.

Henry (Chip) Maurer, a spokesman for Interpol in Washington, said this week that law enforcement officials began double-checking the arrested man's identity after another man in Mexico City claimed to be Jorge Armando Pavon Reyes.

The man arrested Sunday in Milan denies that he is Pavon Reyes. He wasn't carrying identification, Interpol said.

Pavon Reyes faces murder and conspiracy charges in the United States and could receive life imprisonment if convicted, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

He was commander of the federal judicial police in Guadalajara when undercover DEA agent Enrique Camarena Salazar was abducted and killed in February, 1985.